A 31 year-old mother of two Gloria Ramirez, known as ‘The Toxic Lady’ was as toxic as the name suggested following the rate at which people died after being exposed to her.
Her Journey To The Hospital
Some 11 years ago, precisely on Saturday, February 19, 1994 Ramirez, a housewife, was rushed by ambulance to the emergency department of the Riverside General Hospital in California, as a result of some health challenges she faced which included breathing difficulties, chest pain and repeated vomiting.
According to Wikipedia, the medical staff injected her with some drugs in their bid to sedate her, but when t became apparent that she was not responding well enough to treatment, the staff tried to defibrillate her heart since she suffered a cardiac arrest.
Defibrillation is the process of delivering a therapeutic dose of electrical energy to the heart with a device called a defibrillator.
The Starting Point Of The Strange Observation
However, the paramedics and other observers noticed a very strange thing on Ramirez’s body as if it were covered with oil sheen.
Additionally, some of the witnesses perceived a rather foul fruity, garlic-like odor which they though emanated from her mouth but they were wrong.
The Story Become Even More Bizarre
Within the space of fifteen minutes, all the entire medical team, except one person had already passed out.
It all started when a registered nurse named Susan Kane, withdrew blood from Ramirez’s arm, and noticed an ammonia-like smell emanating from the tube before she gave the syringe to Julie Gorchynski, a medical resident who noticed manila-colored particles floating in the blood.
Kane subsequently fell to the floor and became unconscious and was evacuated from the room but that wasn’t the end as Gorchynski began to feel light-headed with a pressing urge to puke and then fell unconscious after she left to the nurse’s desk to rest.
The next in line to the serial unconsciousness was a respiratory therapist Maureen Welch, who was assisting other staff members at the trauma room.
Following the bizarre occurrence, the staff was ordered to evacuate all emergency room patients to the parking lot outside the hospital.
A total number of 23 persons fell ill with about 5 of them hospitalized.
The Toxic Lady Passes On
However, Ramirez was pronounced dead shortly after the incident, precisely around 8:50pm after series of treatment.
The official cause of death was recorded as kidney failure which was caused by metasticized cancer.
Autopsy Reveals The Possible Cause Of The Deadly Smell
After her death, a very special autopsy was carried out on the Toxic Lady’s corpse to decipher the possible cause of the deadly smell.
The post mortem examination was carried out by a team of pathologists who worked in shifts of 30 minutes followed by a twelve hour precautionary quarantine period in which they were observed for medical symptoms.
They worked in air-tight “space suit” type garb equipped with breathing equipment and two-way radio communication. Paramedics monitored the entire procedure via a closed-curcuit TV system.
The official result was that death was caused by cancer induced liver failure. No signs of any toxins that could have been responsible for the emergency room events were discovered, and there was no explanation about the “yellow crystals” in the blood.
Ramirez was buried in an unmarked grave at Olivewood Memorial Park in Riverside, ten weeks after her death.
